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Estate value ‘too much’ in divorce settlement

A stately home is at the centre of a divorce wrangle after a millionaire landowner went to the Court of Appeal to get an £8 million settlement reduced, the Financial Times reports.

Erik Maurice Robson, aged 66, believes the amount is “too much”. He is being forced to sell Kiddington Hall, in Oxfordshire.

The value of the grade II listed mansion, which dates back to 1673 and sits in gardens laid out in the 18th century by Capability Brown, is said to have plummeted in the recession.

Last July, a court awarded Mr Robson's former wife Chloe an £8m gross lump sum - of which about £5m was earmarked to buy a home and a further £2.4m for an income trust. In a further judgment last July, the court ruled that Kiddington Hall be sold as part of the clean break between the couple.

However, Mr Robson's freehold interest in the estate is now worth about £13.18m rather than the £16m figure used by the court last year.

Tim Amos QC, representing Mr Robson, told the appeal court that the £8m divorce settlement was "clearly too much" and said there was a "need to be more cautious or less free" with money that is "actually nothing to do with either of the parties or their marriage".